Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is advising hot prospect and rising contender Moses Itauma not to rush into a fight with current undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Lewis, 60, says that the 20-year-old Itauma should wait until Usyk retires and then go after top glory in the heavyweight division.
“(It’s) way too soon. It’s better to wait until (Usyk) retires, I mean, he’s not going to stay around too long,” Lewis told Sky Sports. “Then take your shot. There’s no use doing it right now.
Right now, you’re learning. You’re learning everything and you have to wait until the right time. You can never be rushed.
“If you rush, you’re going to (have) a bad result for your career. So it’s better to take your time and take it when it’s there, when it’s ready, when you’re ready.”
Itauma (13-0, 11 KO) is a fast-rising name, but he’s still very young, and while his first round demolition of Dillian Whyte on August 16 did turn a lot of heads and it seems his ability is clear, Lewis isn’t wrong that Itauma is still in the learning stages of his career.
The 38-year-old Usyk (24-0, 15 KO) isn’t nearly as faded as Whyte, which was obvious when we saw Usyk dominate and knock out Daniel Dubois to re-unify the division in full on July 19 at Wembley Stadium. It’s quite arguably, even, that Usyk has yet to fade much at all.
Usyk and his team have recently been ordered to make a mandatory defense against Joseph Parker, though this seems less and less likely by the week. The Usyk team claimed injury as a reason to postpone the order’s deadline, but then he was seen dancing on TV and being otherwise quite physically active, and the WBO had to publicly face the reality that Usyk just doesn’t seem to much care about facing Joseph Parker. Meanwhile, Parker is reportedly near a deal to face Fabio Wardley in October.
Do you think Lewis is giving advice that is too cautious for Itauma, or is he on the money about what would be best for the young fighter, to simply avoid Oleksandr Usyk at all and look to be a successor at the top without any actual, potential torch-passing fight between them?
